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By Alex Oliveira,
President-elect Donald Trump blamed California’s Gavin Newsom for the ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires ravaging the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles — claiming he chose to save an extinct tiny fish species, instead of sending more water to southern California.
Trump raged that the Democratic governor blocked an order that would have diverted more water from the much wetter north to the state’s parched regions “including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt… but didn’t care about the people of California,” the incoming president ranted on his Truth Social Platform.
“Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is to blame for this.”
Trump has long supported diverting supply from California’s main water hub, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, to farmers who have sturggled with repeated droughts.
But his plans faced resistance from environmental groups that argued they would disastrously hurt the population of delta smelt – small fish that were once crucial California’s ecosystem, but has since been rendered effectively extinct.
Trump first promised to redirect California’s northern runoff south to benefit farmers during his first presidential bid in 2016, and made good on his promise in 2020 with a federal memorandum that redirected millions of gallons of water he said was otherwise “needlessly flushed” into the ocean, according to Courthouse News Service.
But days later Newsom’s administration sued to block Trump’s move, and succeeded in limiting the amount of water that can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The two politicians have spent the ensuing years duking it out over the state’s water plans – which are regulated by both state and federal laws.
WOW. This woman literally ran up to Gavin Newsom on the street and demanded answers on his disastrous wildfires response — and she was NOT taking no for an answer. Good for her. pic.twitter.com/GNjUATtKXt
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) January 9, 2025
In September, Trump said that if elected he would cut off wildfire aid to California if Newsom refused to change a policy protecting the smelt and allow water to flow on his terms, the Hill reported.
“If we don’t give him money to put out his fires, he’s got problems,” Trump said at the time.
Rather than capitulating, Newsom doubled down and teamed up with President Biden to devise their own regulation to direct water to southern California with the smelt in mind.
Newsom’s office also denied Trump’s claims Wednesday, with his spokespeople claiming they weren’t quite sure what “water restoration declaration” Trump was referring to.
“There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction,” a statement said.
“The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”
Though Trump appeared to be blaming Los Angeles’ fires on water shortages – the area’s water situation is much less dire than it has been in years past.
While LA is currently under a drought, the situation is only rated “moderate drought,” the lowest ranking on the US Drought Monitor’s scale.
At least two people have been killed in the three separate infernos raging around Los Angeles, the biggest of which — the Palisades Fire — remains 0% contained, according to fire officials.
The Eaton Fire – which is burning on the north side of Los Angeles – exploded from 2,000 acres to more than 10,000 in hours on Wednesday.
More than 100,000 LA residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes.
LA Water And Power Officials Rake In Fat Salaries As Fire Hydrants Run Dry
While homes and businesses in Los Angeles are being destroyed by wildfires, Mayor Karen Bass is herself taking a beating by California residents and the press for being outside the country while her city burns.
It’s not quite as bad as when New York City Mayor Eric Adams — currently under indictment for unrelated alleged crimes — left the city as it was hit by an icy winter storm in December 2022.
Sure, LA Mayor Bass was already in Ghana for the inauguration of President John Mahama when the fire started, and she was making her way back to LA on Wednesday, The Hill reported.
But the real scandal is her $300,154 pay in 2023, plus benefits, making her the second highest paid mayor in the country, just after her San Francisco counterpart.
The San Francisco mayor — who was London Breed last year, but as of Wednesday’s swearing in, is Daniel Lurie — makes $383,760.
Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, whose paper is covering the fire extensively, posted on X.com Wednesday that Bass had cut the Los Angeles Fire Department budget by $23 million, and that reports of empty fire hydrants in the Palisades were a concern. “Competence matters,” he wrote.
Eclipsing Bass’ compensation is Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. She’s the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold her post, and the one in charge of fighting the deadly fires.
Crowley’s 2023 pay was an absurd $439,772 — $412,493 base pay and $27,278 “other” pay.
That would be one thing if she approached the job as the well-trained, experienced fire fighter and administrator that she appears on paper — having been a firefighter, paramedic, engineer, fire inspector, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, fire marshal and deputy chief for 22 years before becoming chief.
But when she accepted the nomination in 2022, she made sure diversity, equity and inclusion goals were front-and-center.
“As the fire chief, if confirmed, I vow to take a strategic and balanced approach to ensure we meet the needs of the community we serve,” as Newsweek quoted her. “We will focus our efforts on increasing our operational effectiveness, enhancing firefighter safety and well-being, and fully commit to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture within the LAFD.”
Shortly after, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti and Crowley launched the LAFD’s first-ever Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Bureau “focused on ensuring a safe, diverse, and inclusive workplace for all.”
“We believe in, and are committed to, justice in Los Angeles — and we focus an equity lens on every aspect of our work,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “The Bureau of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will help to ensure that our progress is permanent and we’re always moving forward with a city government and institutions that reflect and value our diversity.”
DEI isn’t quite helping contain the fires, just like it doesn’t help better educate students, better inform scientists researching diseases, and doctors dispensing treatment.
Fires don’t care about a person’s skin color, ethnicity, their gender or sexual preference.
TOP PAID LA CITY EMPLOYEES
Frustratingly enough, Crowley isn’t anywhere close to the highest paid City of LA employee.
The ten highest paid people in 2023 collected between $606,095 and $857,458, with the average person taking home $321,828 in overtime alone.
All but two of the employees — a fire captain and a Port of Los Angeles pilot — worked for the city’s Department of Water and Power, as reports of the water shortage have emerged.
UPDATED: Department of Water & Power (DWP) CEO Janisse Quinones was hired in May 2024 at a salary of $750,000 annually. KABC News reported that city council members and DWP board members thought it necessary to “attract private-sector talent.” Quinones was previously vice president of electric operations at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Her predecessor at DWP, Martin Adams, made $435,000.
According to the local ABC affiliate, Quinones’ hiring “comes as the utility needs to follow new rules to produce 100% clean energy by 2035.”
*CALIFORNIA WOKE FIRE CHIEF OVERSEES CITY BURNING DOWN*
LOS ANGELES IS DONE FOR. The government site about Crowley says she enjoys “creating, supporting, and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity.” The site calls her the “first female and LGBTQ fire chief” in department history. Crowley also happens to have worked for the Los Angeles Fire Department for more than two decades and rose through the ranks of that organization. |
But in the current climate of diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially in a place like California, one cannot simply assume that a person with at least two diversity characteristics, namely being a woman and being a self-described lesbian, rose on her own merits rather than her outward diversity. Crowley may very well have received an unfair advantage in those promotions specifically because of her identities, and in any case, her emphasis on diversity shows a distraction from the mission of keeping Los Angeles safe from fires. DIVERSITY IS NOT OUR STRENGTH. This emergency shows yet another weakness of the diversity movement. As residents of southern California flee their homes, they now have to wonder if their fire officials are actually qualified, or if they are simply diversity hires. That cannot be an enjoyable experience. |
Source: https://openthebooks.substack.com
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